Support jacks have long been used to keep the trailer in a level position when the trailer is disengaged from the towing vehicle. Also, the support jack vertically repositions the trailer tongue so that it can be mounted onto a hitch of the towing vehicle. Oftentimes, these jacks are pivotally mounted onto the trailer tongue such that they can be pivotally moved to a horizontally stored position when not in use.
Various types of such trailer mechanisms are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,125 (Ebey) discloses a swivel jack with two brackets. The first bracket is affixed to a jack housing and the second bracket is affixed to a trailer tongue. One of the brackets has a section that interlocks and slidably receives a lug extending from the other bracket. A second lug extends from one of the brackets and is slidably received through a notch in the other of the brackets. The second lug disengages from the notch and enables the first bracket to pivot about an axis extending through the first lug to a stored position. A lock mechanism selectively retains the first bracket in the stored position. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,692 (Nudd, et al.) discloses another swivel jack assembly for use with a trailer tongue. A spacer is disposed between the tongue and housing brackets. The spacer includes clamping components which are assembled from the inner side of the tongue bracket. The swivel jack assembly includes a first bracket secured to the trailer tongue and a second bracket secured to the jack housing. A bolt extending through the housing bracket and the spacer enables the housing bracket to pivot relative to the tongue between an active position and a stowed position. In the active position, the jack extends vertically and is used to raise and lower the tongue. Once the tongue is coupled to the towing vehicle, the jack may be pivoted and moved to a stowed position alongside the tongue. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,605 (Sauber) discloses a pivotally rotatable trailer jack assembly. A horizontally disposed support member connects the jack to the trailer frame. A cylindrical bore in the support member receives a horizontally disposed sleeve rotatably fitted and axially restrained within the support member. A slidable latch selectively prevents the rotation of the sleeve within the bore. The jack is fixedly attached centrally to the outer end of the sleeve whereby the rotation of the sleeve within the bore defines a first jack upright position and second jack stowed position. The latch maintains both the jack positions. The latch is a slidable U-shaped plate having a handle portion at its top and which fits between the tubular outer member and the inner sleeve having a rectangular cross section.
While these swivel jack assemblies provide significant advantages over their prior art, a rotatable support arrangement for the trailer jack is needed that retains the jack firmly against the mounting bracket, that has a minimum amount of unwanted movement or excess pivoting when directed loads are applied, that minimizes any wobbling and eliminates any clatter during transport, and that reduces the likelihood of damage to the rest end during transport.
What is needed is enhanced bracketry, a swivel jack assembly that is easy to operate, that is economical to manufacture, that has but a few moving parts, that minimizes the time and effort to raise the jack rest end for transport. These and other advantages of the swivel jack assembly of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description.